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Archive of the Benevolent Society of Natives of Catalonia (Havana)
Origin of Catalan emigration associations in the 19th century
The dream of reaching the Americas was the impetus that seduced many Catalans to set out to cross the Atlantic from the 18th century -especially from 1778- and throughout the 19th century. These adventurers saw in these Latin American countries the opportunity that they were deprived of in their place of origin, opting for emigration as the great opportunity to prosper and become rich.
For some, this was how they came to control the commercial apparatus, mainly the export of wool, fur or cotton to Catalan looms and the import of textiles and spirits to the colonial elites. These Catalan newcomers consequently became figures of certain economic and political relevance in the colonial world.
The other side of emigration to the Americas is drawn by those who did not see their expectations fulfilled, falling into absolute misery and becoming dependent on the charity of their compatriots .
Unlike the emigration of the 19th century, the departure of many Catalans from the country during the 20th century responded to ideological and political reasons that find their roots in the Moroccan Wars, the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923), the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and the subsequent and long Franco dictatorship (1939-75) that persecuted and repressed anyone who was considered an enemy of the Franco regime.
On this occasion, and like other European countries, Latin American countries continued to be places of welcome, where a large part of the Catalan intellectual elite of the time settled: the Germans Pi i Sunyer, Pau Casals, Pere Calders, Tísner, Joan Oliver etc…) becoming figures of great relevance in these countries.
Photo: Juan Alonso
Full-length portrait of a group of men in Havana, Cuba. 1920
CID 505.001.004.001_317.001.013
Provenance: SAMLM Guinart Collection – Ball·llatinas – Xiberta
In Catalonia I left
the day of my departure
half-asleep life:
the other half came with me
so as not to leave me without life.
Today in the lands of France
and tomorrow perhaps further away,
I won’t die of longing.
I will live years of longing.
Peter Fourth, John
The Corrandes of exile
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